Leonie Jones

Hi, my name is Leonie Jones and I’m a Warumungu Women from north-west of Tennant Creek. I have just completed a Bachelor of Business majoring in Human Resource Management at Flinders University in Adelaide.

I began my schooling in Tennant Creek before moving to Alice Springs where I completed year 10. In year 11, I was lucky enough to receive a boarding scholarship to attend Immanuel College in Adelaide, this is where I completed year 12. After year 12, I deferred my university offer and moved back to Alice Springs where I took a gap year working as a receptionist. While working in my gap year, I knew that being a receptionist was not for me. I moved back to Adelaide in 2013 to study at Flinders University.

While at school I never knew what I wanted to do after I had finished. It wasn’t until I was applying for university that I finally made up my mind. I thought by studying a bachelor of business majoring in Human Resource Management, that this will enable me to help my people and those within my community to gain successful employment within the workforce and to increase the employment numbers for Indigenous people across Australia.

While attending university I also had a cadetship with the Central Land Council (CLC) in Alice Springs, I conducted 12 weeks of placements during semester breaks across my three year degree. The placements allowed me to use the knowledge and skills learnt within my degree to be able to be applied within the human resource section of the CLC. At the end of the cadetship program I was extremely lucky to receive a full time job as an HR Advisor.

Without the help and support of IYMP, this would not have been possible for me. By joining the IYMP this made living in Adelaide as a university student a whole lot easier. Through the many different support structures within IYMP and the staff, I was able to utilize laptops, internet, tutoring, transport, affordable living and even budgeting support to help manage the cost of books and other associated training cost. The staff in Adelaide helped me manage my study by setting realistic goals and ensured I stayed on track to meeting these goals through regular fortnightly contact to discuss progress or barriers that might have come up within that fortnight.

The support and help that was provided by the program and the staff helped not only myself but my partner as well, the program has been a huge benefit to myself and I believe that without IYMP my end result could have been a lot different. I would recommend other young Indigenous people who are looking at studying after secondary school to strongly consider IYMP Adelaide and Flinders Uni as both have made my educational journey very enjoyable.

I would like to thank Career Employment Australia’s Adelaide IYMP team for all their support.